Single-stock leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were listed in May. The photo shows a mobile trading screen displaying the ETFs on their listing day. [Newsis]
Single-stock leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were listed in May. The photo shows a mobile trading screen displaying the ETFs on their listing day. [Newsis]

Six in 10 South Koreans say the government's measures to rein in single-stock leveraged ETFs do not go far enough, a new poll shows, amid growing concern that the products have fueled extreme volatility in the domestic stock market. The government has said it will raise the minimum deposit requirement for such ETFs to 30 million won ($20,400) starting Friday.

In a survey conducted Wednesday by polling firm Realmeter on behalf of The Today, 59 percent of 504 adults aged 18 and older nationwide said the government's remedial measures for single-stock leveraged ETFs were "insufficient." The poll was conducted at a 95 percent confidence level with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

A large majority also questioned the products' introduction from the outset: 63.7 percent said allowing single-stock leveraged ETFs was wrong from the start, while only 19 percent said it was the right call.

On whether the domestic stock market is overly swayed by the share prices of a handful of large-cap semiconductor stocks, 42.7 percent said structural policy fixes were needed. Some 30.4 percent, however, said the concentration was a natural reflection of South Korea's industrial structure and competitiveness.

When asked which policy the government should prioritize to stabilize the stock market, respondents ranked exchange rate stability and management of foreign capital flows first at 26.0 percent, followed by stronger market surveillance against unfair trading and price manipulation at 24.1 percent, and easing the concentration of demand in high-risk financial products such as leveraged ETFs at 22.3 percent.

Financial authorities announced the remedial package on July 16, raising the minimum deposit requirement for single-stock leveraged ETFs from 10 million won to 30 million won and provisionally expanding the minimum trading unit to 20 shares at a time to reduce the products' side effects.

The higher deposit requirement takes effect Friday, while the change to the minimum trading unit is set to be implemented in November, pending system upgrades at brokerage firms.

The poll was conducted via automated random-digit-dialing using a 100 percent wireless random-generation sampling frame. The overall response rate was 3.2 percent. Statistical weighting was applied by gender, age group and region based on Ministry of Interior and Safety resident registration data as of the end of June 2026.


jshan@heraldcorp.com